Genus: Thalia
Life > Eukaryotes > Opisthokonta > Metazoa
(animals) >
Bilateria > Deuterostomia >
Chordata > Tunicata >
Thaliacea > Salpida > Family: Salpidae
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A preserved Thalia specimen. [photo CL Griffiths
©] |
Seven species worldwide, four of which have wide
pelagic distributions that include southern
African seas.
Species native to southern Africa
Information from
World
Register of Marine Species (WoRMS), unless otherwise indicated.
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Thalia democratica
Semi-cosmopolitan in temperate to tropical waters. Recorded from the
southwest coast of South Africa by Lazarus & Dowler (1979). Recorded from
the Benguela Current region by Gibbons (1999) and van Soest (1973) shows
records from the south and east coasts of southern Africa. |
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Thalia longicauda
Indian Ocean and South Atlantic. Recorded from the southwest coast of South
Africa by Lazarus & Dowler (1979). Also recorded in southern African seas by
van Soest (1973). |
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Thalia orientalis
Circum-(sub)tropical. Recorded south of South Africa at 35-40°S (van Soest
1973). |
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Thalia rhomboides
Indo-Pacific. Recorded off the east coast of South Africa (van Soest 1973). |
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Publications
- Gibbons MJ. 1999. An introduction to the zooplankton of the
Benguela Current region. National Book Publishers, Cape Town.
- Lazarus, B. I. and D. Dowler. 1979. Pelagic tunicata off the
west and south-west coasts of South Africa, 1964-1965. Fish.
Bull. S. Afr. 12:93-119.
- van Soest RWM. 1973. The genus Thalia Blumenbach,
1798 (Tunicata, Thaliacea), with descriptions of two new
species. Beaufortia 271(20): 193-212.
Text by Hamish Robertson |
